Child resistent safety closure and container

ABSTRACT

A child resistant closure and container in which the safety closure cap fits within the interior of the top of the container. The inner periphery of the container is provided with inwardly projecting locking bars that fit into corresponding locking slots in the cap. The latter is further provided with an upwardly projecting finger piece that requires a substantial amount of prehensile strength to manipulate. The closing flange on the bottom surface of the cap, or on the container, is resilient, thereby normally biasing said cap in an upward direction.

United States Patent Duffy [54] CHILD RESISTENT SAFETY CLOSURE AND CONTAINER [72] Inventor: Daniel P. Duffy, 209 Boston Ave.,

Massepequa, L.l., NY. 1 1758 [22] Filed: Feb. 19, 1971 [21] Appl. No.: 116,766

[52] US. Cl ..215/9, 215/47 [51] Int. Cl. ..B65d 55/02 [58] Field of Search...- ..2 1 5/9, 44, 40, 47

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,587,896 6/1971 Graff ..2l5/9 3,627,160 12/1971 Horvath ..2l5/9 [1 1 3,684,116 [451 Aug. 15,1972

Primary Examiner--George T. Hall Attorney-Alfred E. Miller [57] ABSTRACT A child resistant closure and container in which the safety closure cap fits within the interior of the top of the container. The inner periphery of the container is provided with inwardly projecting locking bars that fit into corresponding locking slots :in the cap. The latter is further provided with an upwardly projecting finger piece that requires a substantial amount of prehensile strength to manipulate. The closing flange on the bottom surface of the cap, or on the container, is resilient, thereby normally biasing said cap in an upward direction.

11 Claims, 12 Drawing Figures PATENTED 3,684.1 l6

sum 1 0F 2 DAMEL P DUFFY INVENTOK BX C F "Avid; n

HT TORM Y PATENTEHAUB 15 I972 3584.1 16

snm 2 OF 2 DANIEL P. DUFFY LWENTOR,

Q 5 mg};

CHILD RESISTENT SAFETY CLOSURE AND CONTAINER The present invention relates to child resistant safety closures for containers such as vials or bottles which may contain drugs and other potentially harmful products.

There is both publicity and government legislation regarding the adoption of safety standards for cap closures for vials and bottles that contain drugs and other potentially dangerous products. Many so-called safety cap closures have been proposed, however these closures are all of the type which fit around the outer periphery of the top of the bottle and vial. This construction has the very serious drawback that a child can put the cap in his mouth and grasp the periphery thereof with his teeth and, by twisting the bottle or vial, remove the cap and open the container. The present invention has been developed in order to overcome this drawback.

It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a safety closure cap for a container which fits internally therein thereby preventing a child from inserting the cap in his mouth and turning the same by gripping the outer periphery with his teeth. The cap has a relatively small finger piece which a child would have difficulty in grasping due to the prehensile strength requirements for grasping and manipulating the same.

It is another object of the present invention to provide locking means on the inner periphery of the container which are urged into corresponding locking slots in the safety closure cap by means of a resilient flange.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a waterproof bottle construction which also has a childresistant safety closure.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a safety closure and container that is relatively inexpensive to manufacture and which a child is greatly deterred, if not prevented, from removing the cap closure from the associated container.

The present invention will now be more fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a sectional view of a vial or a bottle provided with a child resistant safety closure constructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a top plan view of the safety closure secured to a vial;

FIG. 3 is a perspective view of the safety closure shown in FIGS. 1 and 2;

FIG. 4 is a partial perspective, cut-away view of the vial construction;

FIG. 5 is a partial sectional view of another form of the safety closure and container construction;

FIG. 6 is a further embodiment of the present safety closure and container construction which is waterproof;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an alternate safety closure and container construction;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of the safety closure cap utilized with construction shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a partial perspective, cut-away view of the vial construction shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 10 is an enlarged partial sectional view of the safety closure and cap shown in FIG. 7;

FIG. 11 is another modification of the present safety closure and container construction; and

FIG. 12 is a perspective view of another modification of the safety closure cap.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION Referring to the drawings and particularly FIGS. 14 thereof, a container in the form of a vial 10 or a bottle 12 is shown having an internal circumferential groove 14 and a plurality of lock bars 16 projecting inwardly. Each of the lock bars 16 is provided with a downwardly bevelled surface 18.

The child-resistant closure for the vial or bottle, referred to generally by the numeral 20, is shown in FIGS. 1-3 and comprises a generally circular base 22 having alternate through slots 26 and lock slots24 on the outer periphery thereof. Depending downwardly from the undersurface of the closure 20 is a generally circular flange 28 of resilient material, such as a high density plastic, for example polypropylene or polyethylene. The free end 28a of the flange 28 engages the re-entrant surface 30 of the circumferential groove 14 when the closure 20 is secured to either the vial 10 or the bottle 12. Projecting upwardly from the closure 20 is an integral finger piece 32.

The opening and closing of the present child-resistant safety closure for a container is a press and turn operation as follows: In order to insert the closure member on the container the finger piece 32 is grasped by two or three fingers and the through slots 26 in the closure cap 20 are aligned over the lock bars 16 on the vial 10. The closure cap 20 is then pressed downwardly with the lock bars 16 passing through the slots 26 and the resilient flange 28 is engaged against surface 30 and bent to a firm closure. Thereafter, the closure cap 20 is rotated in either direction and when the lock slots 24 are aligned with corresponding lock bars 16 on the vial 10 the downward pressure applied to the closure cap 20 is released thereby permitting the spring or resilient flange 28 to force the closure cap 20 upwardly, and the lock bars 16 snap into the lock slots 24. In order to open the container closure, the cap 20 is pressed down against the resiliency of flange 28 pemiitting the lock bars 16 to clear the lock slots 24. Thereafter, the closure cap 20 is rotated to a position in which the lock bars are aligned with the through slots 26 and the resilient flange 28 then pushes up the closure cap 20 to an open position.

FIGS. 5 and 6 show alternate embodiments of the present invention in which FIG. 5 illustrates the internal circumferential groove 14 having an angled portion 32 whereby the free end 28a of the circumferential flange 28 forcefully engages the corner formed by the angled portion 32 and the re-entrant surface 30. This construction results in a tighter closure seal. The construction shown in FIG. 6 is waterproof inasmuch as the circumferential flange 28 is provided with perpendicular surfaces 38 and 40 that engage: both the re-entrant surface 30 and the adjacent inner surface of the bottle 12, respectively. In addition, the inwardly projecting locking bar 16 is shown having a bottom portion tapering upwardly at 34 which matches a tapered lock slot surface 36 which facilitates easier manufacture of the vial 10 or the bottle 12.

FIGS. 7-9 disclose another modification of the present invention in which the spring or resilient flange 42 projects upwardly from the surface 30 at the bottom #16. illustrates a further embodiment of the present invention wherein the upper free end 42a of the spring or resilient flange 42 engages both the undersurface of the closure cap and an annular downwardly directed projection 49 thereby effecting a waterproof seal as well as a safety closure.

FIG. 11 illustrates a further embodiment of the present invention similar to the construction of FIG. 10, however, the resilient flange 42 is a depending section extending inwardly from the inner wall of the bottle l2.

FIG. 12 shows a tapering edge 50 extending angularly upwardly from the through slot 26 which functions to automatically depress the closure cap 20 as the cap is rotated clockwise in a normal manner thereby facilitating an easier closure.

What is claimed is:

l. A child resistant safety cap closure and container comprising a plurality of locking projections protruding inwardly from an inner-peripheral surface of said container adjacent to the top thereof, said cap closure fitting within the inner periphery of said container and having a plurality of through slots and a plurality of locking slots in the outer periphery thereof, and resilient sealing means acting to bias said closure away from the container when said closure has said through slots aligned over corresponding locking projections and said closure is subjected to an axial force in the direction of said container against said resilient means to a position whereby said projections pass through said through slots, said closure being thereafter rotated to a position whereby said locking projections are located over said locking slots, and said locking projections are urged into said locking slots by said resilient sealing means when said axial force on said closure is removed.

2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said through slots and locking slots are located in alternating sequence around the outer periphery of said cap closure.

3. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said resilient sealing means is an integral flange which depends downwardly from said cap closure.

4. The combination as claimed in claim 2 wherein said flange is provided with a portion that engages a wall of the inner peripheral surface of said container in a watertight construction.

5. The combination as claimed in claim 2 wherein the inner peripheral surface of said container is provided with acircumferential groove, and said flange is firmly engaged in said groove.

6. The combination as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an upstanding finger piece mounted on said cap closure.

7. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said resilient sealing means is provided on said container on a plane below the plane of said locking projections.

8. The combination as claimed in claim'7 wherein said resilient sealing means is an integral part of said 'i hi g mB tfO d aS Y l 1 d in claim 8 wherein said cap closure is provided with a downwardly projecting annular ring that engages with said resilient sealing means on said container in a sealing manner to thereby provide a waterproof construction.

10. The combination as claimed in claim 8 wherein said cap closure is provided with a bevelled surface, said container having an internal second bevelled surface corresponding to said first bevelled surface.

11. The combination as claimed in claim 2 wherein said through slots are each provided with an edge tapering angularly upwardly which automatically depresses said closure cap when the same is rotated in said container.

mg UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE CERTIFICATE OF CORRECTION Patent No. 116 Dated August 5: 97

Inventor(s) Daniel P. Duffy It is certified that error appears in the above-ident1fied patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as shown below:

Asslgnee: Robert S Schultz Old Greenwich, Conn. 06870 Signed and sealed this 6th day of March 1973.

(SEAL) Attest:

EDWARD M. FLETCHER,JR. I ROBERT GOTTSCHALK Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents 

1. A child resistant safety cap closure and container comprising a plurality of locking projections protruding inwardly from an inner-peripheral surface of said container adjacent to the top thereof, said cap closure fitting within the inner periphery of said container and having a plurality of through slots and a plurality of locking slots in the outer periphery thereof, and resilient sealing means acting to bias said closure away from the container when said closure has said through slots aligned over corresponding locking projections and said closure is subjected to an axial force in the direction of said container against said resilient means to a position whereby said projections pass through said through slots, said closure being thereafter rotated to a position whereby said locking projections are located over said locking slots, and said locking projections are urged into said locking slots by said resilient sealing means when said axial force on said closure is removed.
 2. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said through slots and locking slots are located in alternating sequence around the outer periphery of said cap closure.
 3. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said resilient sealing means is an integral flange which depends downwardly from said cap closure.
 4. The combination as claimed in claim 2 wherein said flange is provided with a portion that engages a wall of the inner peripheral surface of said container in a watertight construction.
 5. The combination as claimed in claim 2 wherein the inner peripheral surface of said container is provided with a circumferential groove, and said flange is firmly engaged in said groove.
 6. The combination as claimed in claim 1 further comprising an upstanding finger piece mounted on said cap closure.
 7. The combination as claimed in claim 1 wherein said resilient sealing means is provided on said container on a plane below the plane of said locking projections.
 8. The combination as claimed in claim 7 wherein said resilient sealing means is an integral part of said container and projecting inwardly.
 9. The combination as claimed in claim 8 wherein said cap closure is provided with a downwardly projecting annular ring that engages with said resilient sealing means on said container in a sealing manner to thereby provide a waterproof construction.
 10. The combination as claimed in claim 8 wherein said cap closure is provided with a bevelled surface, said container having an internal second bevelled surface corresponding to said first bevelled surface.
 11. The combination as claimed in claim 2 wherein said through slots are each provided with an edge tapering angularly upwardly which automatically depresses said closure cap when the same is rotated in said container. 